


When Stars Burn Out (TXT/Bighitverse Fanfic)

by p3num6ra



Category: K-pop, TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Gen, Huening Kai - Freeform, Soobin - Freeform, Tomorrow By Together - Freeform, Yeonjun - Freeform, beomgyu - Freeform, kpop, taehyun - Freeform, tomorrowxtogether, txt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:28:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26087212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/p3num6ra/pseuds/p3num6ra
Summary: The boys of TXT have been living a normal life for as long as they remember. However, as time goes on, Soobin begins to have strange dreams. One day, the boys finds himself in a world where everything is wrong, until one single moment changes everything and memories they didn't know they had return to them.Each of them must come to terms with the truth, and look back on the choices they've made that led them to this moment... and will eventually lead them to the Last Day. With this knowledge, can they escape the prison they're trapped in and change the future?
Comments: 15
Kudos: 29





	1. The End of the Beginning

_Just when he had begun to believe that there was no way to return, that all hope had been lost, and that the moment he had clung onto so closely was finally gone… then, he felt it again. That comforting presence. That one moment. A closeness, almost like home, filling him to the brim on the inside._

_Was it really possible to go back? Could everything really change, after all they had done? That moment felt so far away. They had only been children, then._

_It had been so long since he felt a sense of home. He had begun to believe it was all merely a dream. There was a part of him that wanted to stay in that dream, but he always woke up in the end… he always woke up…_

The light of the practice room stung Soobin’s eyes as he opened them slowly. Dry tears crackling on his eyelids and he wiped them away with his sleeve. He felt clammy all over, the way you do when you've just woken up from a nightmare. His dream was already slipping away before he could catch it. 

The first thing his vision focused on was Beomgyu crouched in front of him, grinning behind his phone as he snapped a picture.

“You were drooling in your sleep,” he said.

Soobin reached out, shoving the phone away playfully. A quiet laugh escaped him, though his chest was still tight with uneasiness. “Stop that.”

Maybe he was still sleepy, but he didn’t exactly remember how he had gotten here. His eyes darted around the familiar room—they practiced here almost every day, and every detail was fresh in his mind. There were the scuff marks from Kai’s sneakers by the mirror, and the pillar by the back wall where Taehyun had written his name in blue pen. He knew every inch of this room… so why did it seem so strange?

“Are you planning to join us any time soon?” Beomgyu asked him, pulling him out of his thoughts. “Break ended ten minutes ago.”

Soobin blinked hard to clear the sleep from his eyes and pushed himself upright against the mirror wall. “Yeah, I’m ready. What time is it?”

“Almost ten.” Beomgyu extended a hand to help him up and Soobin accepted, pulling himself to his feet. As he did, his eyes fell on Taehyun sitting on the other side of the room against the wall with his headphones in. He didn’t seem to notice them at all. 

“Taehyun still acting weird?” Soobin asked, lowering his voice to a hush. It wasn’t as if Taehyun would’ve heard him anyway. He always had his headphones in, and nowadays it seemed like he was distracted even without them. 

Beomgyu shrugged. “You know how he’s been lately. We just stopped trying to get his attention an hour ago.” He lifted his phone toward Taehyun and chuckled a little through his nose. “Hey, how long do you think I can video him without him noticing?”

“Leave him alone,” Soobin said good-naturedly, taking his phone out of his hands. “Something’s obviously up with him.”

“Whatever.” Beomgyu sighed, scratching his nose with his pinky as he glanced over at Kai and Yeonjun practicing in the corner, then back at Taehyun. He was quiet for a moment, but Soobin didn’t pry. He didn’t need to, anyway. They were both thinking the same thing.

“We're all tired,” Soobin offered quietly. “Things will get back to normal.”

“Yeah, but when?” Beomgyu glanced up at him, digging his hands into his pockets. “Everyone’s been so quiet lately. It’s almost as if…” he stopped short, nose scrunching a little before he shrugged. “Whatever. Let’s get jjajangmyeon or something when practice is over, I’m hungry.”

“I’m not sure the others will want to go out.”

“Let’s just order it here, then.”

“Sure.” Soobin reached up to give Beomgyu a reassuring pat on the back, then stretched his arms. “I’ll be there in a minute, I’m just going to check on Taehyun.”

“Don’t take too long.” Beomgyu grabbed his phone back from Soobin’s hands and went to join the others, his gaze still distant. Soobin felt a little bad for him. He had never been one to talk about his feelings, especially to the group, but it was obvious when he was upset and that was the worst part. He had been so happy before, when they spent more time together outside of practice. Why couldn’t things be like the way they were?

There it was again. That feeling, on the back of his neck. He shook it off.

He looked over at Taehyun again, who had looked up from his phone and was watching him now. Maybe he had heard their conversation after all. Soobin couldn’t read his face enough to tell.

Slowly he made his way over, and as he approached Taehyun pulled off his headphones.

“What are you listening to?” Soobin asked. It wasn’t the best conversation starter, but he couldn’t think of anything better.

“Music,” Taehyun replied. That was as descriptive of an answer as Soobin expected. “Does he still hate me?”

“What?”

“You were talking about me just now, right?”

Soobin sighed heavily. “He doesn’t hate you. He’s just worried about you.”

Taehyun nodded slowly. “Right.” Then he laughed a little, though it didn’t sound very happy. “I wish I could figure out why he’s so angry with me.”

Soobin didn’t know what to say. A sudden wave of sadness overcame him without warning and he looked away. It wasn’t like he thought Taehyun was wrong.

Taehyun’s gaze had lengthened too as he stared off at the others. Then he murmured, “something’s not right.” 

“I know—“

“No.” Taehyun’s eyes darted around the practice room, tinged with alarm so much that it made Soobin look nervously around too. Then, as if on cue, everything happened at once.

A tremor, like an earthquake, shook the whole practice room. At the same time Soobin’s ears were accosted with what felt like a million different sounds—the building fire alarm blaring mixed with an agonizing screeching, like metal against metal, and an overwhelming sense of urgency overcame him. The practice room light flickered and died.

Soobin looked around—first at the other members, now all on their feet—but then his gaze fell on the cracked door that led out to the hallway and the glow of the emergency lights beyond. His head was pounding with a sensation almost like voices, screams rattling around in their skull, but in a moment of unexplained clarity he ran to the door and threw it open. 

The hallway to the elevator was dark, and as he looked down it Soobin felt his heart jump in his chest. He grabbed the doorframe to steady himself as the room continued to shake, and as he watched the elevator opened and the light inside shone down the hallway. It was empty.

_You have to go back. You have to fix it. You have to change this, before it’s too late—_

God, the voices were so loud. Soobin’s eyes stung with tears of terror,but his mind were too chaotic to sort out his thoughts. They felt overwhelming now, layers upon layers, like someone was inside his brain—

He started running down the hallway.

Just as soon as it had started, the noise and chaos turned to silent darkness, and he was alone.


	2. The Constellation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With his first year of high school begun, the space-loving Soobin learns about a fascinating new constellation that captures his attention and begins to meet his new classmates... the good and the bad ones.

Soobin stifled a yawn as he tapped his pencil idly on his desk, trying to focus on his teacher’s words. It wasn’t just him; the whole class seemed to be falling asleep, and one student in particular kept sighing loudly just behind him. Was the first week of ninth grade supposed to be this boring? Even if it was science class...

“--speaking of astrology, this brings me to a fascinating new scientific development,” the teacher was saying. Soobin’s ears perked up at the mention of astrology. “--this week, a new constellation has appeared in a familiar solar system.”

A student raised their hand. “Stars don’t usually just appear, do they?” they asked.

“It is very unusual.” The teacher agreed. “Especially since these new stars have not been photographed by our satellites before. It’s new enough that we’re still not sure how or when it got there, which makes it so fascinating. We will be getting better satellite pictures of it soon, but if you look tonight you might be able to spot it.”

He turned to draw on the board, and Soobin straightened a little to get a better look. The guy behind him sighed again.

He watched as the teacher drew six dots, one in the center with the other five surrounding it, and connected them all with lines before turning back to the class. 

“Six stars, in a perfect star shape,” he said. “It’ll be hard to miss.”

“Looks like a pentagram,” someone said, and a murmur of stifled laughter swept over the class. Soobin was too busy copying the constellation onto the margin of his science textbook, so he could find it later.

“Good observation,” the teacher replied evenly. “A pentagram is, by definition, a star with five points. And this one might not be around for very long. Apparently all these stars are on the verge of burning out, as fast as they appeared. Does anyone remember what that’s called?”

Soobin raised his hand slowly. “A supernova?”

“Correct. I suggest you all enjoy this constellation while you can. It might be gone by next week for all we know.”

Soobin heard the loud student behind him finally speak and turned a little to glance back at him. He sat in the back corner of the class, sitting cross-legged in his chair. Soobin could just make out his school name tag: Choi Beomgyu.

“Why do we care about it if it’s going to disappear anyway?” Beomgyu asked.

The teacher shrugged. “If you think about it, there isn’t a real reason we should care about any of the stars. A lot of science has come around just because of curiosity. At its core, science is really just about learning about the world for the purpose of just knowing as much as we can. If you want to try to find some higher meaning in the stars, you can. But mostly people just think it’s interesting.”

Soobin quirked his lip involuntarily at the thorough answer, glancing back at Beomgyu again. He didn’t seem to absorb any of it and just shrugged.

“Okay,” he murmured. “I was just asking.”

“That’s more than you usually do in my class,” the teacher remarked drily, and Soobin watched Beomgyu’s eyes fall to the floor amidst the hushed laughter of the class as the lesson started up again.

~ ~ ~

Soobin usually ate lunch out in the school courtyard near the sports field. There were plenty of shady trees to sit under and it was the optimal place to people-watch. Every once and a while, a friend from last year would come up and ask him how he’s been, but if he was being honest he was mostly looking out for the people to avoid.

He unwrapped his gimbap and took a bite, watching students mill around the courtyard. It was nice out, so there were more than usual. A group of girls laughed shrilly nearby.

His eyes fell on a group of students that had formed next to the door to the gym, a small commotion growing louder as he watched. It seemed like they were yelling about something--or someone--and it was enough to pique Soobin’s interest. He stuffed his lunch trash into his backpack, and with his gimbap still in one hand he made his way slowly over to the crowd.

It was hard to tell what they were yelling about until he had pushed through the students toward the center of the circle, where a very angry looking tenth grader was standing over a lanky kid on the ground. He had obviously pushed the kid over because his lunch had spilled across the sidewalk, and he wasn’t really fighting back. Worry twisted Soobin’s stomach, and he shoved the rest of his gimbap into his mouth.

“I told you,” said the older student, nudging the kid with his foot. “I told you if I saw your face again you’d regret it.” 

Soobin recognized this guy from last year. Ahn Min-Seong. He practically ran the taekwondo club, and his dad was some higher-up in the school. A big doner, or something. Soobin had always steered clear of him until now.

“I didn’t do anything,” the kid murmured, but no one was listening. His voice shook with humiliation.

“You’re a liar. Do you think the whole school doesn’t know?” Min-Seong spat. “Just looking at your face pisses me off.”

“I didn’t--”

“If you say that one more time, I’m going to _lose_ it!” Min-Seong said through his teeth, and the whole crowd gasped as he kicked the kid square in the gut. He tried to dodge, but Soobin could practically feel the impact in his own chest and shuddered. 

Min-Seong’s eyes were flaming as he watched the kid double over, shaking out his shoulders like he did before a taekwondo match. Soobin hated to think he was just warming up. Obviously he had no one to abuse over the summer.

“What, do you want to get hit again? Get up.” Min-Seong’s voice was colder than ice. “Don’t make this a repeat of last year.”

The kid on the ground kept his head down and pushed himself off his palms, his dark hair falling in unruly waves over his face. Soobin didn’t recognize him, but he seemed like the type to stay invisible.

“You’re an asshole,” the kid muttered, voice tight.

“Huh? What was that?”

“Nothing.” He replied, only a little louder. Then he stood with shaking legs, slowly, almost like he knew that Min-Seong was planning to shove him again. 

Soobin watched as the tenth grader stepped forward, getting into the kid’s face before he grabbed his jacket and yanked him off balance. 

“Hey, talk to me properly, huh?” Min-Seong growled. “Fucking rude. Want to try that again?”

The kid finally met his eyes, and it seemed like he had something to say. He stared into Min-Seong’s eyes with a look that wasn’t quite defiance, just acceptance. For a moment no one made any noise at all.

“I said, speak up,” Min-Seong said, lip curling. “What do you have to say for yourself, freak?”

Soobin craned his head to get a better look, heart pounding. He could finally read his nametag, and immediately everything clicked together: Huening Kai. He was the kid that everyone said freaked out last year, before Soobin came to the school. Something about a seizure. Everyone had been whispering about him since the school year began.

“You can hit me if you want,” Kai said. His voice was so weak it was barely above a murmur, and his face had gone completely blank. “I don’t care. I’m not scared of you.”

That was obviously a lie.

Something changed behind Min-Seong’s eyes, and his grip tightened on Huening Kai’s jacket. Kai’s sneakers scraped the concrete as he was yanked forward, eyes widening moments before Min-Seong threw him down, hard.

All of Soobin’s muscles froze as Kai slammed into the two foot ledge by the walkway, his shoulder and head colliding audibly against the brick before he crumpled to the ground. The crowd of students gasped and a few of them took out their phones, while others left like they were scared they were next. Soobin reacted before he realized what was happening. He pushed past the students in front of him and put himself between Min-Seong and Kai before the bully could wind up for another punch.

“He’s had enough,” Soobin said quietly, suddenly very aware of how many eyes were on him. In his head he was trying to appeal to Min-Seong’s humanity, but it was obvious there wasn’t much there.

“What are you?” Min-Seong asked. His stare could’ve frozen Hell itself. He squinted at Soobin’s nametag. “Choi Soobin? Who the hell is that?”

Kai groaned behind them and Soobin heard a student whisper, “Oh my god, is he bleeding?” His heart pounded.

“Just give him a break,” Soobin pressed. “He’s had enough, okay?”

He tried to control the tremor in his voice, but every muscle shook like an earthquake in his limbs. It wasn’t that he was scared of getting hit, really. He was more scared of getting hit every day for the rest of the semester.

Min-Seong laughed in his face. “Oh, so you’re a friend of his,” he said, gesturing to Kai on the ground. “What, you gonna freak out too? Do you even know what this guy’s been up to?”

Soobin swallowed, but his mouth was dry. “No,” he said quietly. “I’m still new.”

“That’s a shame.” Min-Seong reached down, dragging Kai to his feet with ease. Even though he was tall, he was as thin as a beanpole, and he didn’t resist. Soobin grimaced as he saw the blood trickling from Kai’s hair and down the left side of his face.

“He’ll be alright,” Min-Seong said coolly, brushing off Kai’s jacket with a couple pats. “He has worse coming to him. Kai here likes to sneak around where he shouldn’t be, isn’t that right?”

Soobin’s eyes darted back to Kai, who stayed silent. Maybe he had learned his lesson. A lump formed in his throat.

A loud yell suddenly cut through the agonizing silence of the crowd and all heads turned toward the school, where the principle was storming down the sidewalk tailed by a few curious students. Someone had probably gone to get help. That’s what Soobin should’ve done.

Min-Seong’s lip curled and he let go of Kai’s jacket, shooting an icy glance in Soobin’s direction before he grabbed his backpack. Soobin watched as he gestured to a few of his buddies to follow before they pushed through the crowd and headed toward the gym. He probably wouldn’t have gotten in trouble even if he had stuck around, but Soobin didn’t have to know him well to know he was a coward.

Soobin looked to Kai, watching as his knees seemed to give out underneath him. He reached out, grabbing Kai’s arm to steady him as he stumbled. There were tears on his cheeks.

“Hey,” he murmured, tugging him gently back toward the school. “Let’s get out of here before the principal comes, yeah?”

Soobin wasn’t really sure what he was thinking. He hated being the center of attention, and now it felt like every student in the school was watching him.

“I’m really f-fine,” Kai groaned next to him, reaching up to gingerly touch his forehead. He hissed sharply through his teeth and drew his bloody fingers away. They were shaking. “A-Ah…”

“You’ll be okay. Let’s just get you to the nurse before someone sees,” Soobin urged gently. “Look, you’re walking better already.”

Kai nodded weakly, putting his hand over his ribs with a soft groan. “My chest really hurts…”

He spoke mostly to himself, but Soobin couldn’t help but hear the tremor of pain in his voice. It was barely above a whisper.

“He really got you good. You should avoid people like him,” Soobin noted. They reached the building door and he held it open with his shoulder so that Kai could go through. “Why does he hate you so much anyway?”

“Min-Seong hates everybody,” Kai replied with a shrug. He was obviously dodging the question, but Soobin wasn’t about to pry.

They arrived at the nurse’s office and Soobin reluctantly released Kai’s arm, watching as he brushed himself off with his head still low. He couldn’t get over how young Kai looked, even if he was only a few years below him. Something about him was just… gentle. Fragile, even. Like he would just turn invisible forever if he could. It made Soobin’s heart heavy.

As he opened the door for Kai and watched him go wordlessly inside, he was suddenly reminded of the rumors. Something about seizures. And then of course, whatever Min-Seong was going on about.

“Are you going to be okay?” Soobin asked quietly, almost before he realized he was speaking.

Kai glanced back at him, meeting his gaze for the first time if only for a moment. His eyes were distant as he reached up, wiping blood from his forehead. “Yeah,” he responded. “I’ll see you around, Soobin.”

“Yeah.”

The door shut with a click, leaving Soobin alone in the hallway. He exhaled deeply, eyes fluttering closed as he raked his fingers through his hair. He had told himself was going to lay low this year. Now he could probably expect Min-Seong waiting around every corner to throw his head into the sidewalk too, or whatever else he did to people he didn’t like.

A group of students passed by him, their hushed whispers dulled in the quiet hallway. He didn’t need to hear what they were saying to know they were probably talking about him, if only from the way their eyes lingered on him as they passed. Another sigh escaped him, heavier.

_Way to start the year off, Soobin._


	3. Club Beomgyu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the Min-Seong situation ending more poorly than Soobin would've hoped, he confronts yet another possible enemy and he finds himself in detention with an unlikely ally and much to think about.

“Choi Soobin!”

Soobin had barely time to even realize he had left his backpack in the courtyard before he saw the principal storming toward him. He had a familiar look on his face, the look when a student was wasting just a little too much of his time.

Soobin tensed as the principal jammed an angry finger in his direction, eyes flaming.

“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded. The students flanking him watched silently. One of them Soobin recognized—one of Min-Seong’s friends from taekwondo club. He had probably started all of this. He watched with a grim expression.

Still confused, Soobin offered a polite bow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said quietly.

"You know exactly what I’m talking about. What do you think you’re doing, starting fights on school grounds?”

A bolt of anger stabbed Soobin’s chest and his eyes widened. “What? I—”

“There were plenty of witnesses,” the Principal interrupted. “They said you threw a punch at a student and threatened Chairman Ahn’s son. This is unacceptable behavior.”

Soobin’s lip curled at the accusations, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. This was obviously Min-Seong’s doing. Everything he said was gospel, and even if it wasn’t the school staff would rather throw a student under the bus before making an enemy of Min-Seong’s dad.

Before he could think of a way to defend himself, however, the principal was already yelling again. “I’ll see you in detention after class. I will not tolerate violence, especially from good students like yourself. I hope it was worth it.”

Soobin barely stifled a bitter laugh, taking a deep breath through his nose. _It really wasn’t._ “Yes, sir.”

The principal stormed off again, leaving Soobin to wonder what kind of story Min-Seong could’ve made up to make him that mad. It wasn’t as if Min-Seong had gotten a scratch on him. His breath became more and more uneven, and the blood roared in his ears. All he could think about was that ugly wound on Huening Kai’s forehead.

The stragglers that had followed the principal began to scatter, but the one he had recognized before lingered as if he wanted to say something. Their eyes met, and Soobin was surprised at how indifferent he seemed. He wore his uniform unbuttoned, hands in his pockets with a remarkably unreadable expression. Soobin had begun to expect more trouble, but he was just… standing there.

“What?” Soobin finally snapped. The word echoed in the now quiet hallway. For a moment silence hung between them. The student’s eyebrows flicked upward in amusement, the corner of his mouth twitching. He shrugged, flapping his elbows a little with his hands still stuck in his pockets.

“I thought you’d make more of a scene,” he said bluntly.

“Why would I make a scene?”

“Hmh. I guess I should’ve known. You don’t look like you’re able to beat up anybody.” He sighed, rolling his head a little. “Is your friend okay?”

“He isn’t my friend.” Anger began to boil deep in Soobin’s chest. He was a little put off by the question—it almost sounded like he actually cared. “And I don’t know if he’s okay. _Your_ friend almost killed him. Who throws someone’s head into a sidewalk?”

The student’s eyes widened at this and he looked back down at Soobin, eyebrows furrowed. “He isn’t my friend either.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

The student squinted, taking a few slow steps to close the distance between them. The look in his eyes was cold as ice, and Soobin felt his pulse falter.

“You don’t know me, so speak formally,” he said. His voice had dropped low enough for no one else to overhear. “I’m being nice, hmh? If it weren’t for me you would’ve gotten worse than detention. But I can still kick your ass.”

Soobin swallowed. “What, you want a thank you?”

The student scoffed, rolling his tongue on the inside of his cheek as he reached up and grabbed Soobin’s nametag without warning. He tilted it into the light, squinting to read the name. All of Soobin’s muscles tensed in anticipation.

“Soobin,” he said, letting it drop from his hands. “I like you, so I’ll give you some advice for free. The taekwondo club is bad news. Next time Min-Seong’s throwing punches, just walk away and be glad it’s not you.”

Soobin lowered his eyes, and his found he wasn’t able to lift them again. He couldn’t tell if it was because he was angry or scared.

“Whatever,” he finally replied tightly. His gaze darted to the student’s own nametag, and the simmering anger in his chest jumped inside of him. He looked up to meet the gaze of the student smirking down at him.

“Since you’re in the taekwondo club, I’ll just take that as an invitation to never see you again,” he said. Then he reached over to the student’s own nametag, tugging on it a little as if to accentuate his point. “…Yeonjun.”

Yeonjun smirked, shaking out his shoulders in an unbothered shrug. “You’ll be late to class,” he remarked. “Here…”

Soobin looked down, watching Yeonjun slip off a backpack that he immediately recognized as his own. The student held it out for him to take, smoothing back a stray strand of blonde hair from his forehead with the other hand.

“I found this out in the yard,” he explained. “You should really watch your stuff.”

Soobin snatched it from his hands, lip curling just a little. Silently he slung it over his shoulder, pushing past Yeonjun and down the hallway. He thought he could hear Yeonjun chuckle quietly behind him, but didn’t look back to see.

~ ~ ~

When the school day finally ended, it felt like it had been an eternity. Soobin slowly packed up his books from his last class as his classmates hurried out into the main hall, feeling his heart sink. Usually he didn’t mind the loud hallway chatter, but now it only seemed to accentuate the very apparent fact that the list of people who didn’t like him in his school was slowly growing. People barely looked at him, much less spoke to him. Except now they were probably talking _about_ him.

Soobin hadn’t heard much about Huening Kai, or even the incident, from any of the school staff. It had seemed like he had been seriously hurt, as he hadn’t come back for any classes, but it wasn’t like he could just go and ask. And even if he could, he wasn’t sure he wanted to. He was probably fine, anyway.

It was too much to think about, so Soobin could only insist to himself that it wasn’t his problem and try to think about something else. He had detention now anyway, so thankfully he would be busy. And he definitely wouldn’t see Min-Seong there.

As he packed up the last of this things, Soobin stopped at his notebook and took a moment to look at the newest page. He had almost forgotten about the new constellation he had drawn. It had been his plan to research it during lunch period in the school library, but he would just have to look into it later. For a moment, all he could do was look at the six graphite stars on the page, but eventually he put his notebook away too. Yet another thing he’d just have to think about some other time, when he wasn’t atoning for his own stupidity.

 _Standing up for others isn’t stupid,_ the rational part of himself insisted as he zipped up his bag and headed out into the hallway. _You did the right thing. It’s everyone else here that’s stupid. No wonder you can’t make any friends this year._

Detention was usually held at the gym, so he headed that direction and cut across the courtyard to save some time. It was empty now, except for a few honors stragglers laughing and smoking cigarettes under the cover of a cluster of trees.

Finally he made it to the gym. Slowly he opened the door, and the creak of its hinges echoed hollowly in the gym. He adjusted his backpack and slipped inside, trying not to squeak his shoes on the polished floor. As he scanned the room he finally spotting another detentionee sitting on the bleachers, scribbling something on a notebook.

Soobin immediately recognized him as Beomgyu from his science class, and honestly he wasn’t surprised. It seemed like ever since school started he had been the bane of his teachers’ existence, but right now he didn’t seem half as obnoxious as he usually was. His eyes were completely focused on the paper he was writing on, softly biting his lip as he focused.

Soobin approached him slowly, quietly clearing his throat to alert him of his presence before taking a seat on bleachers next to him. When Beomgyu didn’t react, he just pulled out his own notebook and opened to a random page. It was better than sitting in silence, at least.

He hadn’t stared long at his random page of notes before Beomgyu spoke up without lifting his head, breaking the silence. His voice was blurred by deep concentration.

“You know you could sit anywhere else.”

“Oh,” Soobin murmured. “Sorry.”

“It’s all good.” Beomgyu glanced up with a surprisingly friendly smile. For the first time that day, Soobin felt himself at ease. Even though Beomgyu talked a lot, the way he spoke was almost comfortingly reserved. “You seem like one of those people that’s always trying to make friends or something.”

“Oh… well, I don’t know.” Soobin was a little taken aback. “I really just don’t want to make enemies I guess.”

“And I guess it would be kind of weird for you to sit miles away when we’re the only people here.” Beomgyu laughed a little before lowering his head to focus on his notebook again. “It’s nice to have someone else around.”

Soobin smiled at this despite himself. “Are you here often?”

Beomgyu scoffed. “Often is an understatement. I guess I’m just not very likable.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

The offhand comment seemed to affect Beomgyu more than Soobin expected, and he was silent for a moment. The playful look in his eyes shifted to something emptier, the way it did when a teacher gave him a snide remark in front of the whole class, and then he just shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he finally said, quiet enough to be talking to himself. “They probably just stick me in detention so they don’t have to listen to me.”

“It sounds relaxing, to be honest. I’d rather be alone than be around the other people in this school,” Soobin admitted with a chuckle, mostly to try to cheer Beomgyu back up again.

Beomgyu laughed at this, softly. “I guess. I’ve been out drawing the lines on the new soccer field for like three days straight. That’s been kind of fun.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah. They really like to take advantage of the free child labor.” With that Beomgyu lifted his notebook for Soobin to see, his eyes brightening. It was a drawing of some kind of dog-like creature, with spines almost like a porcupine sprouting from its back. There was even the detail of blood dripping off some of the spikes done in red correction pen. Soobin’s eyes widened.

“What is that?” he asked, blinking.

“I don’t know. I just thought it was cool,” Beomgyu said simply.

“It’s really good.” Soobin craned his neck a little as Beomgyu continued drawing, watching him add darker strokes to the different tuffs of fur on its long, angular body. “Are you in the art club?”

“Oh hell no. The only club I’m in is detention.”

Soobin snorted. “Club Beomgyu?”

Beomgyu snickered, gesturing with his drawing. “Yeah, and maybe this can be the mascot.”

This made them both laugh quietly, and Soobin felt the strange sensation of sudden relief as all the tension from the day slowly unclenching in his chest. He looked over, seeing the slight smile lingering on Beomgyu’s face as he bent over his drawing. In that moment he felt a sudden brief burst of courage.

“I, uh, I actually like drawing too,” Soobin spoke up. “Nothing like that, just random stuff I find interesting.”

“Oh? Like what?” Beomgyu asked.

His unexpected interest sparked a pang of embarrassment in Soobin and his hand hesitated over his notebook. “Well, I really like outer space,” he admitted slowly. “So I draw a lot of things like that. I like mysterious stuff like space. Sometimes I draw stuff I remember from my dreams, too. Just things like that.”

Soobin wasn't sure why he had said all that. He never told anyone about his dreams, ever.

Beomgyu nodded. “Hmh. I bet you found that constellation really interesting then.”

At the mention of the constellation Soobin brightened. “Yeah, that was pretty cool I guess. I’m going to try to find it with my telescope. The way that it appeared was really strange, so we might leran a lot of new things... about stars, and stuff.”

 _Maybe I’m coming off too strong,_ Soobin thought suddenly. _He’s probably just listening to me because I sat down next to him…_

“Tell me how that goes,” Beomgyu said, glancing up at him. He really did sound sincere, like he was interested too. “Especially since it’s gonna disappear, right?”

“You two!” boomed a voice from the gym entrance, cutting through the hushed atmosphere. “Get down here now!”

Both their heads whipped toward the doors, and Beomgyu’s face immediately fell when he saw the grumpy elderly man standing at the entrance.

“Ugh, it’s the creepy part-time janitor,” he muttered, closing his notebook and shoving it haphazardly into his back. Soobin followed suit. “He usually makes me carve the gum off the benches in the shower room or something. Bad luck for your first day here.”

Soobin would’ve been lying if he said he wasn’t disappointed. Part of him was hoping he could draw lines out on the soccer field, while the weather was so nice. Still, he was desperate to make a friend, and the class troublemaker was certainly a step up from the school freak…

The thought of Huening Kai brought back that odd heaviness in Soobin’s chest, and he did his best to shrug it off. He needed something to take his mind off that whole situation and if that thing was scraping gum off of benches, so be it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the love on this so far, even if it's just a few kudos! I know my way of writing fanfiction isn't really conventional, but honestly I have so many theories and ideas about the TXT storyline so I really wanted to flesh out the "characters" and their backstory together. Thanks for bearing with me :)


	4. Yeonjun's Imaginary Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of the incident with Soobin on school grounds, Yeonjun finds himself having to choose a side and faces Kai for the first time since his accident.

Yeonjun could hear Min-Seong and his friends laughing as he approached the locker room door. As he reached for the handle he paused, leaning in to listen to their conversation. As expected, they were talking about that Huening Kai kid they kept harassing. It wasn’t like they had anything better to do.

“You saw the way he just collapsed, right? Fucker was about to start crying.”

“Oh, he totally was, did you see?”

“Must’ve reminded him of his dad the way you decked him. Creepy little shit. Why do you think he’s always creeping around here?”

“Maybe he wanted to come watch oppa practice his kicks.”

“Fuck you, man. He definitely didn’t come to see you. You’ve been shit lately ever since you started seeing that girl from the convenience store. Bet she tires you out, huh?”

Yeonjun’s nose wrinkled in annoyance before he took a deep breath and opened the door, trying to slide in without being noticed. The air was thick with steam from the showers and the smell of shampoo and sweaty equipment.

Unfortunately, Min-Seong noticed him right away. “Hey, Choi! How’d things go with the principal?”

“They went fine.” Yeonjun went to his locker ad opened it up, pulling out his backpack with a heavy sigh. It seemed like he was in the mood to talk to Min-Seong less and less these days.

“I heard that Soobin kid got sent to detention. Thought he’d get expelled.”

“He didn’t really do anything,” Yeonjun pointed out, and Min-Seong snickered.

“C’mon, you let me down, man. You could’ve at least made up something interesting.”

Yeonjun shut his locker and turned to look at Min-Seong’s stupid grinning face, mustering a very tight smile. Everyone else around them had gone quieter.

“I’m tired,” Yeonjun said. “I think I’ll pass on going out tonight.”

Min-Seong’s eyebrows furrowed just a little. “You sure? I’m paying.”

 _You know, I’m just so tuckered out from being your errand boy all day._ “Yeah, well. Another time.”

“Whatever.” Min-Seong shrugged, then grabbed his jacket from one of the benches and sighed. “You haven’t been around as much, Choi. I hope you’re not planning to drop out or anything.”

“What, would you miss me?” Yeonjun asked drily, hoisting his backpack over his shoulder.

Min-Seong scoffed. “I’d kick your ass.”

Yeonjun watched as he left with his friends and continued the loud conversation outside in the hallway. Eventually the echoes of their voices faded to silence and he was alone in the locker room. Then a long, heavy sigh escaped him through his nose and he headed toward the sparring area.

He hadn’t been lying to Min-Seong at least; he was exhausted. Dropping out of taekwondo almost sounded like a good idea, but he knew Min-Seong hadn’t been lying either. And it wasn’t like he didn’t enjoy it.

The sparring room was all but empty, which was usually preferable for when he just wanted to be alone and hit something, but now the last thing that Yeonjun felt like doing was training. Instead he walked to the far wall on the edge of the sparring pads and sat down, using his backpack as a pillow to lay against the wall.

He rubbed his hands over his eyes and took another heavy breath, finding a spot on the wall to stare at. If he wasn’t scared of sleeping, he wouldn’t taken a nap right then and there.

Yeonjun hadn’t been scared of nightmares for a long time. As a kid, he had had them almost every night. He would dread even closing his eyes back then. Yeonjun couldn’t even remember why he had so many bad dreams back then, but he could remember the feeling. It was coming back. He hadn’t slept well in a week.

 _Something about the people at this school,_ he thought bitterly. It was like a bad memory, but worse. It was the dread of anticipation, like something awful was slowly coming.

He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but he was having his old dreams again. Just one moment in a scene, burned into his memory: he’s standing on a pile of rubble, watching the scope of the entire world turned to flaming ashes in front of him, and his blood is roaring in his ears. Someone’s whispering to him that it’s all his fault, and that a parasite like him should just die. And then he wakes up, with tears on his face.

Yeonjun wrinkled his nose to fight back the growing lump in his throat, leaning his head back against the wall.

_Fuck this school._

“Excuse me?”

Yeonjun’s head snapped up at the sound of a voice, yanking him out of his thoughts. He turned his eyes to the entrance of the sparring room, where a familiar lanky kid with a mop of brown hair was standing. There was a large patch of gauze fastened with medical tape to his temple.

“Huening Kai,” Yeonjun said, blinking. “What are you doing here?”

His eyes widened in alarm like a deer in the headlights and began to turn on his heel. “Sorry, I’ll leave—” he stammered quietly.

“Hey,” Yeonjun called after him, and he froze. “I asked what you were doing here.”

Turning back, Kai’s eyes darted around before he stepped inside the room, as if making sure the coast is clear. “I, uh… I left my bag earlier. I couldn’t find it, so I wondered if the taekwondo club… had it.”

Yeonjun’s eyebrows knitted. “Why would we have it? No one cares about your stupid bag.”

It was more defensive than an actual question. He knew why Kai was looking for it here. With any luck, Min-Seong’s friends had thrown it into a dumpster already.

“I don’t know.” Kai rocked a little on the balls of his feet, and his sneakers squeaked. “Can I look around for it?”

Yeonjun gave a short laugh, shrugging. “Yeah, whatever. It’s not like you usually ask permission before sneaking around here anyway.”

Kai shrugged in return, wandering over to the pile of equipment in the corner and peeking around. “Is it a crime to like taekwondo?”

Yeonjun’s mouth quirked despite himself. “Are you trying to tell me you got your head smashed in because what, you think taekwondo is cool?”

Kai’s eyes narrowed and he poked around the equipment with the toe of his shoe. “I don’t know. I feel like if I start acting scared or something you guys will just make my life worse.”

The use of “you guys” made Yeonjun’s hair prickle on the back of his neck, but he shrugged it off.

“Probably,” he replied with a sigh. Then he squinted at him. “Why aren’t you in a hospital?”

“It actually wasn’t that bad,” Kai explained. “Apparently head wounds bleed a lot. The noona from the school office just told me to take it easy.”

“Coming straight to the taekwondo club is your idea of taking it easy?”

To Yeonjun’s surprise, Kai actually cracked a smile. He went to check behind the training bags. “I saw them all leave for dinner, and I really need my backpack. To be honest I thought it would be empty.”

“Idiot,” Yeonjun muttered incredulously under his breath. Why wasn’t Kai just going home? If Min-Seong came back…

Suddenly Kai knocked over one of the training dummies in an attempt to look behind it, and Yeonjun hissed through his teeth in frustration.

“Hey!” he snapped. “Are you stupid? Maybe you should hit your head again.”

“I wouldn’t have to look around if my bag wasn’t missing,” Kai replied, though his voice was timid. He looked like a giant made of sticks the way he fumbled around the equipment with those skinny legs.

“I told you, genius, it’s not here.” Yeonjun finally stood up, and as Kai glanced up at him a shadow of fear crossed his expression. He walked up to the kid, running his tongue along the inside of his mouth as he examined the mess Kai was making.

“If you really like taekwondo that much, you’d know there’s etiquette,” he said, nudging the fallen dummy with his toe. “At least be careful with our stuff.”

Yeonjun hadn’t expected it, but Kai seemed to have no trouble meeting his eyes. For the first time Yeonjun noticed that he had bruising near his left eye, right under the gauze. His hands were also shaking, but Yeonjun couldn’t figure out why. Did he think he was about to get beat up again?

“I’ll clean it up,” Kai said quietly. “I wouldn’t have even come here if I didn’t really, really need my backpack.” His eyes narrowed and he brushed his mop away from his forehead. “You‘re always hanging around here too, you know.”

“This is my club, idiot.”

“I mean, after everyone else leaves. You just sit here.” Kai didn’t sound like he was trying to be patronizing, but Yeonjun couldn’t help but feel a bubbling anger rise inside of him. Why was he so upset?

“Are you spying on me?” Yeonjun asked, taking a step toward him. Kai didn’t move, but his hands were still shaking.

His eyes widened a little. “No! No. I’ve just noticed, sometimes… I’ll just see you sitting in here from the door, or I’ll—” Kai closed his mouth suddenly, eyes falling to the floor like he had said too much.

Yeonjun’s gaze turned ice cold. “You’ll what?” he asked.

“I’ll just… hear you talking to yourself someti—”

A burst of unexplained rage explode from Yeonjun before he realized what was happening and he grabbed Kai’s jacket, yanking him off balance. Kai’s eyes widened at first, then clenched tight like he was expecting to get hit.

“You want to die?” Yeonjun snapped, voice dropping. “Is that why you’re always creeping around here, to watch me? Is it fun?”

His head was buzzing with anger, filling his ears. Kai seemed to notice and pulled himself away, straightening his jacket. Clumsily he moved to straighten the training dummy so he could leave, but Yeonjun shoved his hand away.

“Listen,” Kai murmured, head still low. His voice was trembling. “I don’t want any trouble. I just want to help.”

“How could you help me? What have you heard?” Yeonjun demanded. His voice was beginning to shake, too.

“Something about a place in your nightmares, or something, I don’t know,” Kai rambled. “Something about a, a fire I think. It sounds like you’re really scared of someone--”

“Get out.”

Kai didn’t have to be told twice. Yeonjun watched him turn and practically run out of the training room, closing the door behind him with a loud thud. The sound echoed for a moment, and then all Yeonjun could hear was his own labored breathing. The silence around him suddenly seemed so loud.

As if on cue, a shadow moved in the corner of Yeonjun’s vision and he turned, his breath catching. The shadow was so familiar, but of course nothing was there. Nothing was ever there. Just the faintest whisper, ice cold like breath against his ear.

_He thinks you’re crazy, parasite._

Yeonjun’s eyes fluttered closed for a moment and he took one deep breath. Two.

Then he went to the training room door, turning the lights off before he too left with a slam of the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long... I had to take a break and let the inspiration come back to me, haha. I hope you all don't mind the darker interpretation of the TXT universe lore, I'm having a lot of fun with it. :3


	5. How To Put Out Fires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quiet loner with chronic headaches finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time as he deals with the worst migraine he's had in a while, and all the strange occurrences that always come with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't my best work, but I had a lot of fun writing it and I would love to hear any thoughts that you guys have on it. :D A lot happens in this one LOL

_He thinks you’re crazy, parasite…_

“Watch it!”

Taehyun was wrenched suddenly from his thoughts and jumped aside just in time to not collide with another student walking down the locker room hallway. He pulled his headphones down around his neck, shooting a cold look in the student’s direction. Was it that hard to just go around people?

Without music, the school hallways were unbearable. It had been this way ever since Taehyun first got here. Everyone was always talking and yelling and laughing at the same time… he could barely even hear himself think. Even now he was already forgetting what he had been thinking about. Something about a parasite…?

Maybe his migraines were coming back.

Despite that, classes were going well so far today. He was comfortable with the routine he had found at this school: sit at the back of the class, eat lunch in the courtyard where no one would bother him, get to the bus stop ten minutes early to get a window seat. It was so much simpler without the added element of maintaining friendships. He had tried that at his last school; hadn’t exactly worked out.

He glanced down at the book he had tucked under his arm, the one he had picked up at the library earlier. “How To Put Out Fires”, from the recommended section. Honestly, he hadn’t look read past the cover yet, but something about it had compelled him to borrow it. Reading helped with the headaches, too. He guessed he’d find out later if it was a novel or an actual guide to extinguishing fires.

Taehyun sighed hard through his nose and turned down the hallway toward the assembly room double doors, dodging groups of friends and rowdy kids in the hall like the ball in a pinball machine. That place had worked out nicely as a sort of shelter from the chaos. They never used the assembly room for anything, anyway. It wasn’t like anyone showed up even when they _did_ use it.

Today must’ve been Taehyun’s lucky day, however, because there was a racket coming through the cracked door of the assembly room as he approached it. He had forgotten another club was using it today. He had seen something about that on a flyer on the billboard.

Taehyun reached for the handle, pulling it open just enough to peek inside and see a group of angry girls near the front of the stage. Someone was standing on the stage itself, and Taehyun could tell exactly who it was even from here: Beomgyu, the bane of his existence.

“Hey, you want to die?!” one of the girls was shrieking. She had already stood up from her seat and looked like she was getting ready to storm up on stage. She shook her clipboard at him. “These are serious auditions, so go away!”

“Who says I don’t want to audition seriously?” Beomgyu retorted. He was grinning ear to ear. “I thought anyone could audition, anyway. That’s what the flyer said.”

“It’s a girls only cover group, asshole!”

“That’s not very nice,” Beomgyu replied, though he was laughing even as he said it. “You haven’t heard me sing yet.”

“Yeah, sing!” a student yelled from the one of the seats.

Beomgyu grinned and began what Taehyun could only guess was some kind of choreography on stage, though it was probably the worst dancing he had ever seen.

“You seriously want to die?!” The girl took off one of her shoes and leaped from her seat, storming toward the stage stairs with a swish of permed hair. Her friends following closely behind and as Beomgyu watched them come he laughed nervously, but kept dancing.

Taehyun watched her raise her shoe to hit him, and he lifted his arm to protect himself despite the fact that he was still attempting some type of choreography. The audience was laughing louder now, and one of the girls was yelling about getting a teacher.

“Whoa, whoa—ow!” Beomgyu said, wincing as she brought the shoe down with a thunk onto his forearm, “at least let me sing something—‘Cuz you know I fancy—ow!—you know I fancy you”—”

“ _YA!”_ The girl was pulling Beomgyu’s hair now and Taehyun could barely stifle a laugh despite himself as Beomgyu finally conceded, wriggling out of her grasp and jumping off the stage to escape her. A couple other bystanders in the assembly room were snickering audibly now, which only seemed to make Beomgyu’s smile bigger.

Beomgyu brushed himself off, hair completely disheveled, and did a little curtsy to the seething girl still on the stage.

“I hope to hear from you soo—whoa!” He barely dodged her shoe as she chucked it at full force toward his face and lifted his hands in surrender.

“Next time I see your face, you’re seriously dead!” she yelled down at Beomgyu. Her words weren’t even directed at Taehyun but his neck hair still stood on end. He didn’t even like to talk to the preppy girls. He couldn’t imagine making one of them that mad on purpose. Beomgyu, however, thrived off of it.

“This is assault, you know!” Beomgyu yelled over his shoulder as he walked away from the stage, straightening his jacket. “This is censorship of art!”

“Fuck you, creep! Don’t you have homework to do?!”

Taehyun watched Beomgyu approach the assembly room doors, pausing only to grab his bag from one of the chairs as he chuckled to himself. He seemed so happy to get beat up—maybe he thought he had scored another day in detention.

Beomgyu walked up to the doors and Taehyun lowered his head, stepping aside to let him by.

“Excuse me,” Beomgyu murmured. He was pretending not to know Taehyun, but they both knew each other too well for that to be the case. They were polar opposites, but they always seemed to be bumping into each other.

Beomgyu squeezed out the door, and as their jacket sleeves brushed everything happened at once.

Taehyun sucked in through his teeth in pain as a sudden migraine hammered his skull and he closed his eyes tight. As he did, blindingly vivid images flashed through the darkness behind his eyes and he groaned in pain.

_A forest, then white wings, then flames, and then some kind of horrible beast dripping with blood…_

And then it was all over at once.

Taehyun’s eyes opened, and he spoke before he could even think. His heart was pounding. “Wait!”

It took him a moment to return to his senses, head still ringing, but he realized he was tightly gripping Beomgyu’s sleeve. Beomgyu was looking at him with confusion, eyes darting down to his hand then back up.

Taehyun felt his lungs clench in panic. _Think of something to say._

“Are you okay?” Beomgyu asked. He sounded genuinely concerned. Maybe Taehyun looked more scared than he thought. Thankfully, he was saved from having to explain himself because in that moment, someone called Beomgyu’s name from across the hall.

“Hey Beomgyu, hurry up!”

Taehyun looked up to see who was speaking: a tall boy with brown hair and a soft smile, waving to them. He didn’t recognize him: maybe he was a new student. Either way, he saw his exit.

Quickly he let go of Beomgyu’s arm, giving a quick bow of apology before turning away. Then he grabbed his headphones, slamming them over his ears before Beomgyu could say anything to him and walked quickly down the hall.

He couldn’t shake those images from his mind, and it was only making his headache worse. It wouldn’t even be so awful it this was the first time something like this had happened. Now it felt like he was having a migraine every day, and it was only getting worse. His brain felt too loud for his skull, like every single thought was multiplied by a thousand. Even his music wasn’t helping now.

Why did it have to be Beomgyu? He should’ve just kept fucking walking. If Taeyhun had one person to blame for his headaches, it was him. Every time he had a headache it was only when Beomgyu was around.

Taehyun’s chest tightened more and more with every step, like a fist was squeezing all the air out of it little by little. Finally, it became too much to bear and he ducked into the bathroom at the end of the hall

He found an empty stall and shut the door, sliding in the lock with shaking hands. His head was still pounding like a drum, and he could hear the blood roaring in his ears. It was worse than usual this time. The type of migraine that made his whole body hurt. His eyes fluttered closed, mouthing the lyrics to his music with uneven breaths.

His thoughts were interrupted by the slam of the bathroom door opening, followed by heavy footsteps toward the stall next to Taehyun’s. He paused, lifting one headphone to listen as the stall door slammed, followed by what Taeyhun guessed was a punch that rattled the entire row of stalls.

“Fuck,” the person growled under their breath.

Taehyun sat down on the toilet as quietly as possible, pulling his heels up against the seat and hugging his bag and book to his chest. He listened again, but everything was quiet now save the hum of the air conditioner and the dulled chatter of the students outside. Taeyhun’s migraine rang steadily at the back of his head.

Finally he heard the soft scrape of a lighter igniting, and then a little stream of cigarette smoke spiraled above the plastic wall between them. Taehyun felt a sneeze coming but wrinkled his nose to hold it in.

“Yeah?”

Their voice broke the silence, suddenly. They must have answered their phone.

A long sigh. “I don’t know, I’m not there anymore. No, I went home.” A pause. “How would I know? I didn’t touch your stuff.”

Taeyhun leaned closer to the wall, till his ear was up against it.

“Whatever. I don’t know if I’ll be at practice.” Another pause. “What… what the—listen. Just listen. That was a week ago. I’ve been busy, I told you that.” A huff of frustration, quiet enough for only them and Taehyun to hear. “What the fuck, Min-Seong. You don’t believe me now? What’s up with you lately? Are you high?”

Taehyun didn’t have to see their face to know they were angry. He could practically feel it radiating off of them through the wall.

“Are you fucking kidding me? I didn’t even touch your stuff. You can’t just tell me not to show up to practice a month before competition, that’s insane—”

He stopped, for a long time this time. Taehyun could hear his breathing getting more irregular.

“You can’t kick me out,” he finally said. There was the tiniest tremor in his voice now. “I told you, I’m _fine._ You’re the one who’s psychotic. I mean, _come on._ Do, do you seriously believe that I talk to mys—"

His voice stopped suddenly, and the person on the other end—Min-seong—was yelling loud enough now for Taeyhun to hear through the phone.

“—know that you’re not at home, freak! Show up to practice tomorrow and I’ll _fucking kill yo--”_

The person next to Taehyun hung up, and everything was silent again. Another puff of cigarette smoke wafted toward the ceiling vent.

As if on cue, Taehyun’s foot suddenly slipped underneath him and he jolted forward. He reached out instinctively to steady himself, and his hand slammed against the wall of the bathroom stall like a thunder crack in the silence.

His heart dropped to his chest and he stood up quickly, listening to the slam of a stall door opening next to him. He barely had time to debate whether he should try to run for it before they were pounding on his door.

“Open up!” they demanded. “I’m really not in the mood for this.”

Taehyun conceded, reaching out to slide open the lock and push it open hesitantly. A tall, blonde student was scowling at him, one hand at a fist at his side and the other holding his smoldering cigarette. Taehyun recognized him: Yeonjun.

Great, another popular kid. Why was it always the popular kids that had anger issues?

“Who are you?” Yeonjun demanded.

Taehyun glanced down at his nametag. He had thought he’d get further into the year without putting this kind of target on his own back. “Taehyun. Uh, Kang Taehyu—”

“What kind of weirdo hides in bathroom stalls? What are you doing in here?”

Taehyun looked up, feeling the stabbing pain of his migraine rattle his skull as he met eyes with Yeonjun. Those images from before burned like sun flares behind his eyes.

“A-Ah…” he groaned, eyelids fluttering in pain. _Not again…_

“Hey, I asked you a question!” Yeonjun said, taking a step toward him. “What did you hear?”

Taehyun was surprised to hear the amount of fear in his voice. Being a typical tough kid, he had expected more threats or at least some more rage. Now he really seemed nervous, almost embarrassed. To be honest, it was hard to focus on anything other than the gong ringing inside his skull.

_He thinks you’re crazy, parasite!_

There it was again, that phrase. Taehyun’s brain felt like it was about to explode. Out of all the images in his mind, that one phrase burned through them all. He blinked through the spots in his vision at Yeonjun’s face.

“P-Parasite,” Taehyun suddenly said, voice tight with pain. He wasn’t sure what compelled him to say that, but it came out before he had even finished the thought. “Does that mean anything to you?”

Yeonjun’s response was instantaneous. His expression dropped, face turning white as a sheet like someone had just punched him in the stomach. The silence hung in the air like glass in freefall, waiting to shatter.

Yeonjun’s eyes suddenly widened and his gaze finally tore away from Taehyun’s, looking past his shoulder into the stall. “Shit!”

Taehyun turned to look where his gaze was, alarmed to see flames sprouting from the toilet bowl and licking up the tile wall, as if the entire thing was coated in oil. It burned hot against Taehyun’s face and he stumbled back in alarm, looking to Yeonjun who looked just as stunned. Then he turned to Taehyun, shoving him once in the chest.

“What did you do!?” he demanded. There was that anger that he had been missing.

Taehyun shoved him back, without thinking. “Wha—I didn’t do anything!”

“You’re going to get in so much trouble for this—”

“Says the person holding the cigarette!”

Yeonjun cursed again, looking around for a moment before spotting Taehyun’s book in his hand and yanking it up. He snuffed the cigarette on the cover, and Taehyun watched as he burned a hole right in the middle of the title. “How to Put Out Fires.”

The fire reached the ceiling, and the heat was filling the whole room. God, Taehyun’s head was killing him…

“We have to go,” Yeonjun finally said, and he grabbed Taehyun’s hand—and before Taehyun could even process what was happening, the two of them were running out of the bathroom door.


	6. The First Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a strange earthquake hitting the practice room, Soobin finds himself in an unfamiliar--yet strangely familiar--place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooo finally updating! While I was writing this I ended up also writing out so many cool scenes for the future that I absolutely cannot wait to get to omg... but until then enjoy the new chapter! (It's less of a full chapter and more like a little glimpse into current events, separate from the flashback/main story)

_In that moment, Soobin felt he was reliving every day, every choice, every second that had led to right then. For what felt like the first time, he no longer saw the five of them meeting as a coincidence, or the brotherhood that grew between them all as anything other than destiny. It was as if every puzzle piece was falling to place before his eyes, and it was almost too much to bear._

_How much time had he lost, exactly? Where these dreams a glimpse into a whole life he had forgotten? The constellation, the visions… had it really not been for nothing after all?_

Soobin ran, and he kept running, like he was being chased… until he wasn’t anymore.

Heart still pounding and throat dry from exhaustion, he found himself standing still, desperately trying to catch his breath. No more screaming in his head, no more flashing lights. Somehow the silence seemed louder. But where were the others?

The first thing he noticed was that the air smelled like popcorn, and soft grass under his feet. Around him were colorful festival stalls and string lights strewn across an overgrown meadow, still flickering but now all but abandoned in this abyssal memory. It _had_ to be a memory, Soobin reasoned. It all felt too familiar.

He scanned his surroundings, hand fluttering up to his chest as he tried to take even, controlled breaths. He felt like the practice room he had just been in seconds ago was also a memory, fading faster than he could catch it even as he stood in this strange place.

_What is this?_ Soobin thought to himself, and kept thinking as he slowly wandered through the stalls and forgotten, fluttering banners. The answer to that question stood on the very tip of his tongue, taunting him. Wherever this place was, it was an old memory. Older than he would be able to remember. But it was definitely his own memory.

The silence… the silence was so sad.

He walked for a little while, feet sinking into the soft grassy soil—it must’ve just rained. The festival grounds had been silent at first, but as he looked he could almost _feel_ the whisper of music tickling the back of his brain, growing louder with each step. It sounded far away, like he was listening through a tunnel, but he could hear it for sure: people laughing and celebrating, singing along to music he didn’t understand.

A soft, cool summer breeze swept across the field and he turned, feeling the prickle of anticipation down his arms in goosebumps. The string lights illuminating the abandoned fair were shining brighter now, sparkling and flaring like fireworks in front of Soobin’s vision.

He watched, breathless, as the breeze seemed to move in front of his eyes, illuminated by the lights, and spectral forms began to fill the empty, abandoned space like a million constellations suspended in air. People, visiting the stalls, talking and laughing… children, running in between the food stands and playing with sparklers… all of them wearing large colorful masks. And that beautiful music, floating like it was being played by the wind itself, so beautiful that Soobin felt like he might cry.

He watched the scene, unmoving, frozen in what he could only describe as awe. It was like he was engulfed in it, and all could think as he watched the scene was _thank goodness. Thank goodness it’s not so quiet anymore. I wish it could stay like this forever._

But what was this place? Why did it make him so sad? As Soobin watched the spectral lights dance around him, painting pictures of happy friends and beautiful memories, he felt his eyes prick with tears. This heart was wrenched with a feeling that Soobin thought could only be described as that beautiful pain you feel when you’ve been gone for so long, and you’re finally home.

As he walked, he suddenly stepped on a hard object that made him jump back. Lifting his foot slowly, he saw a small object in the soft grass, and bent to pick it up. It was round and fit in the palm of his hand, and cold to the touch.

As he lifted it to the light, he could see it was a dice with many sides, made out of what looked like some kind of crystal. Just the sight of it made an odd shiver run down Soobin’s spine.

_Why do I recognize this?_

Suddenly Soobin felt a breeze pass close by him, close enough to ruffle his hair, and watched as a small child ran past toward the festival stalls. He was different from the others—not illusions from the light, but real enough that Soobin felt he could reach out and touch him. He had dark hair and wore all white.

The child looked back at him, and as their eyes met Soobin felt something jolt inside his ribcage. He knew him—his face was blindingly familiar, even in this strange place, and all at once Soobin felt a million memories rush over him like a tidal wave.

_Huening Kai?!_

A sob rose in Soobin’s throat without warning as he watched Kai turn away, running back into the spectral crowd. Part of him wanted to chase after him, call after him at least--to hold onto him before he got away, but he was already gone into the darkness. Everything was already beginning to fade around him. _Why can’t this memory just last a little longer…_

Soobin blinked away the tears, and as soon as the lights had appeared, they were gone. The voices turned back to echoes, and everything dissolved into dust floating on a breeze through the dark, forgotten place.

Soobin looked around, as if to find at least one person left among the festival stalls, but there was no one. The silence was suffocating. Without warning the lump in his throat tightened and a quiet sob escaped him. His knees buckled underneath him and he fell to the grass, and the darkness around him continued to close around him tighter until he couldn’t breathe.

His vision blurred as he looked down at the strange, familiar dice in his hands. Now it too seemed unreal and far away, like the rest of this dreamlike memory. He sat like that for a long time, as the silence grew around him, and the pit in his stomach just opened wider.

“I… I just want everything to go back to the way it was,” Soobin murmured finally, voice tight. He couldn’t even really understand the tears trickling down his cheeks, or why he was even saying any of this at all. “Something w-went… something went wrong. It shouldn't be this way."

_It’s not you’re fault, Soobin._

A stranger’s voice broke the silence, so loud that Soobin jumped and fell back into the grass with a whimper. The words rung in his mind like an echo in a small room, and as he lifted his eyes he saw someone else had appeared in the void around them.

It was a woman, with long dark hair and gentle features. She wasn’t fully material, but their presence didn’t have any warmth like the others before—she was cold, and sad, and Soobin’s heart clenched as he looked at her. His tears became soft whimpers, clenching his lungs. Another tear dripped down to his chin.

_This place… it’s one of your earliest memories,_ she said, but somehow her voice felt more like a thought. _I understand your pain. I’m sorry that you have to find out the truth this way._

Soobin wanted to ask what she meant. He wanted to ask her at least one of the millions of questions swirling in his mind, but he couldn’t even bring himself to form a single word.

_Your friendship is so much deeper than you realize. I know you will be able to save each other from the Maze, but now you are all in great danger. Your friends are dying and they don’t even realize it. Beomgyu is already nearly gone._

“P-Please,” Soobin whispered hoarsely. “I don’t want this to h-happen to us…”

She bent down to his level, her eyes softening with compassion. Soobin felt her hand on his face, and as she brushed away his tears with her thumb he felt his chest tighten even more.

 _There is a way to remember,_ she said. _But you all need to work together again, and find the place where you all came from. If you can all make the right choices, and truly remember who you are, then there is hope._

Soobin looked up to meet her eyes through his tears, feeling just for a moment the sensation of his heart lifting, and the hopelessness that had been consuming him dissipate. She smiled.

_You are the strongest of them all, Soobin. You remembered when no one else did. Don’t shut out these memories anymore. The truth will save you all._


	7. Another Thing Goes Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kai, still adjusting to returning from a leave of absence to recover from his head injury, encounters Yeonjun again and tries once more to find some common ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoaaa what is this, a chapter update in less than a week!?! What can I say, writing Yeonjun is addictive LOL. Hopefully yall can see the story starting to come together a little bit... or at least the characters coming together, hehe. Either way, I just wanted to give a special shoutout to the person who left a comment on my last chapter: you literally made my whole week, I keep rereading it cuz it makes me so happy omg. Every time I receive a comment I swear 5 years are added to my lifespan.
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy!! <3

Since the incident at the beginning of the school year, Huening Kai had learned several valuable lessons.

The first was to never fight back. It just wasn’t worth it. Sure, Kai had always been tall and fairly strong, but there wasn’t a single thing inside him that he could bring to raise his voice, much less fight back. It was better to just take it and move on. That had been his reality ever since the seizures started: kids always found a weakness to prey on no matter how small. It didn’t matter now nice you were, or how much you cared. That’s just the way the world worked.

The second lesson, if Kai was being honest, he had learned long before the courtyard incident. It had become painfully apparent since last year, when he had been caught sneaking around the taekwondo club locker rooms and had one of his worst attacks yet in front of everyone: mind your own fucking business. People won’t hesitate to jump at your throat at the first wrong move, however small, and the next thing you know there’s rumors about you being a pervert sneaking around changing rooms, and spying on people’s girlfriends, and whatever else they were saying. He couldn’t keep track.

Kai thought about it a lot, more than he would admit. Was it because of how he looked? People had always told him he was tall, and too skinny. Maybe how he dressed. As much as he wanted to make friends, he was terrible at it. People probably just assumed he was weird. Whatever it was, he wished it would go away.

And what was so weird about wanting to get to know people, anyway?

_Fuck my life,_ was Kai’s only thought for the whole month after his three day paradise of staying home to heal. In truth, his head had felt better the next day, but there had been no way he wouldn’t milk that injury for every _minute_ of allowed school absence.

His mom had told him not to swear, because when he got worked up he risked having an attack. His dad didn’t like it either, he said it was disrespectful and would probably hit him if he heard it. But after thirty days of going to school with the entire student body breathing down his neck, he woke up one morning and looked in the mirror and said _fuck that. And fuck my life._

But here he was, sitting in his usual window seat in English class, and no matter how many times he had told himself things would change this time they were always the same. Maybe Min-Seong should’ve thrown him a little harder onto the pavement.

_Don’t say things like that, Kai,_ he reprimanded silently. _You’re being dramatic, that’s lame._

On the bright side, Kai actually enjoyed English. He was pretty good at it, all things considered, and it was nice to actually be able to finish the homework. Good grades made his dad happy, too.

That was what he told himself, anyway. It was better than admitting that English was the only class he took with Choi Yeonjun. But there was nothing wrong with that, when you really thought about it. He wasn’t being nosy. Something was obviously up with him, even if he tried to pretend there wasn’t.

Maybe he wouldn’t be in all this trouble if he didn’t feel so bad for Yeonjun. He knew he didn’t have any reason to, but he did. There was something about Yeonjun that made him sad—the distant look in his eyes during class, or the way he always fidgeted with his hands whenever he was the center of attention. Small things that Kai saw straight through. He acted really tough for sure, but Kai had seen him break down when he was alone in the gym. He was like a different person then… it was a little scary, to tell the truth. You would have never been able to tell people thought Yeonjun was cool.

Ever since, he hadn’t been able to get Yeonjun out of his mind. It was almost annoying—he would’ve rather been completely apathetic and brushed the whole situation off, just like everyone else at this school. He would have left it alone, and God knew he tried to many times… but all he could think each time was how, if we were Yeonjun, he would want just one person in the world to care.

In a way, he already was Yeonjun. Except he didn’t have anybody. So didn’t it make sense to at least try?

_You should just give up already, Kai. It’s not like he gives a crap about you, anyway._

Kai had been turning all of this over in his mind, eyes trained on the cars passing by out the window so intently that it took him a moment to realize the teacher was calling his name. It was only when the student behind him poked him hard in the back with a pencil that he looked up, seeing the entire class’ eyes on him. Only Yeonjun a few rows to the left of him seemed not to care, his eyes fixed on something he was writing down in the margins of his workbook.

The teacher raised his eyebrows expectantly, gesturing toward the board behind him. “I said, do you know difference of the past tense forms of these verbs?”

“Oh.” Kai glanced down at the workbook in front of him, then up at the board again. He was barely projecting but he felt like he was speaking far too loudly. “Well… ‘run’ doesn’t have -ed at the end, but ‘smile’ does…”

“That’s right.”

The teacher’s voice was saturated in frustration, but he might as well have gotten down on his knees and sung Kai’s praises from the amount of relief that flooded into Kai’s chest. He exhaled slowly, pencil tapping his desk as he looked down at his workbook again.

He could hear a few students snickering quietly to each other. Kai wondered what was so funny about answering a teacher’s question.

After a few minutes he glanced up again, seeing the students had their attention on the teacher again. He was about to get back to work when he caught the gaze of Yeonjun, who was watching him silently from his desk. His eyes were dark, like he was angry, but otherwise Kai couldn’t read his expression. Mostly he just noticed the circles around his eyes—it looked like Yeonjun hadn’t slept in days.

Kai’s gaze narrowed in confusion and he just mouthed, “What?”

Yeonjun’s eyebrow twitched and he only looked back down at his desk again. Maybe he really was angry about something. Kai couldn’t think of what: he had made a special point to avoid the whole taekwondo club even more than usual.

When class ended, everyone scurried off to go eat lunch, and Kai stayed behind to take his time packing up his backpack and enjoy the silence. Surprisingly, no one came up to his desk to bother him which was a rare blessing. He was almost disappointed: it would’ve been therapeutic to fake a seizure or something, just to see what happened. Seeing genuine concern on a bully’s face was almost funny.

_Remember how we_ didn’t _want attention?_

“Hey.”

Kai looked up from his backpack, feeling his heart drop as he saw Yeonjun standing over his desk. His arms were crossed, head cocked to the side in annoyance.

Kai decided to play it safe and didn’t reply, and instead refocused on fitting his textbook back into his bag. Yeonjun scoffed audibly.

“That’s a new bag,” he pointed out. If this was his attempt at small talk, it was the worst Kai had ever seen.

“Yeah, new everything,” Kai corrected quietly. “I never found the other one.”

“I’d check the Han River.”

_Was that supposed to be a joke?_ “I heard you started as a trainee for some big company,” Kai said matter-of-factly, zipping up his backpack with a few firm tugs. “I didn’t know you were a singer.”

Yeonjun actually laughed at this. “Are people still spreading that rumor?”

“My bad.” Kai was starting to get a little annoyed now. “Maybe it’s the bleached hair.”

“You’re just full of good comebacks today, aren’t you?” Yeonjun noted drily, leaning his weight on one leg as he watched Kai struggle to slide out of his desk and sling his backpack over his shoulder at the same time. “What, you have to be somewhere?”

“Yeah.”

Kai tried to walk past Yeonjun toward the door but Yeonjun reached up, slamming his palm into Kai’s chest to stop him. Then he reached over, grabbing one of Kai’s backpack straps and yanking him around to face him.

“I’m not done talking to you yet,” Yeonjun purred.

Kai swallowed hard. In a perfect world this would be where Yeonjun admitted he needed help or at the very least apologized on behalf of his club, but from the coals smoldering behind his eyes that didn’t seem very likely.

“What’s your deal, huh?” Yeonjun finally asked, and somehow his voice had dropped even lower. Kai shifted uncomfortably under the weight of his glare. “Why are you always watching me? Are you into me?”

Kai’s eyes widened. “What?! No—!”

“I’m pretty sure you think you’re sneaky creeping around the club, but you’re not. You’re fucking stupid. They’re going to catch you again sooner than later.” Yeonjun squinted, eyes flashing. “Is this your way of getting revenge, because Min-Seong sent you to the hospital?”

“Revenge?” Kai squeaked.

“Ever since that seizure you’ve been following me around. What, you didn’t get enough the first time? I heard that video of you freaking out is still on the school forum.”

_He’s just trying to upset you,_ Kai told himself _._ So why did it sound like Yeonjun was the one who was upset?

“We’re not friends,” Yeonjun continued evenly. A kind of redundant clarification. “Just because I don’t hit you like he does doesn’t mean I won’t.”

“I don’t want to fight you,” Kai murmured.

Yeonjun chuckled, though it was the scary kind that trickled out from his nose. “You don’t know a thing about me. You think you do, but you don’t. You’re just trying to hold the fact that you saw things about me over my head, right? Like leverage. So what’s your deal? I’m tired of having to ignore you.”

Kai was pretty sure Yeonjun was trying to sound tough, but it didn’t help that his voice was shaking. Maybe he was crazy, but it seemed like there was something else Yeonjun wanted to say, right beneath the surface, something he would’ve said if he wasn’t friends with Min-Seong. It was like fear, and it was always there whenever Kai looked hard enough.

Maybe he really did want to talk about what was going on with him. Kai would’ve.

“If you keep playing whatever game this is, I won’t stand still,” Yeonjun growled, and he shook Kai a little by the bag strap. “Whatever you think you know about me, you have _no_ idea who I am.”

“I don’t _know_ anything about you,” Kai finally said, his voice small in the quiet room. “I saw you were having a hard time, and it was the beginning of the school year so I, I tried to talk to you and… I don’t know, be nice, but you practically handed me to Min-Seong.”

Yeonjun blinked. “You said you saw—”

“I know. God,” Kai chuckled a little—maybe it was nervous energy—“I wish I hadn’t. But, I don’t know, you seemed like you were dealing with it all by yourself.”

Yeonjun was silent, his dark eyes flickering over Kai. Kai felt his eyes begin to sting, but he kept going. The words came out before he could stop them.

“I’m not trying to get revenge. I don’t care that Min-Seong beat me up. I just wanted to get to know you, and your club spread rumors about me because I have seiz…” a long breath, “…I have problems, and I don’t have friends. It’s your fault people think that I’m a… a pervert.”

“People don’t think you’re a pervert,” Yeonjun replied. His voice had gone a little quieter.

There was that hilarious genuine pity. Kai wrinkled his nose to fight the lump in his throat.

“Sorry for everything,” Kai said, pulling away from Yeonjun as his grip loosened. “For being nosy, or whatever. I wish I had never done it.”

Like some miracle, Yeonjun actually seemed to care. He stepped back from Kai, fists still balled at his sides.

“You said you wanted to help me,” Yeonjun recalled. “I don’t think you can. So just, don’t come around anymore. Min-Seong is gonna see you and kill you for real. I don’t need you, so just leave it alone, okay?”

Kai felt a twinge of pity in his chest despite himself. Yeonjun’s eyes had gone all distant again. He watched Yeonjun grab his bag from the desk behind him and turn away without another word.

“Something weird is going on in this school,” Kai said after a few moments, but Yeonjun didn’t stop walking. Somehow Kai felt like he could take that as him agreeing. Maybe it was due to the fact that Yeonjun had completely disregarded someone backhandedly calling him weird.

Well, he _was_ weird. At this rate the school should start a new club for it, with all the prospective member candidates…

Yeonjun went out the door—the other way, not toward the cafeteria, but the school auditorium—and Kai felt his lungs unclenched in a sigh of relief. He really thought he was going to get beat up for real this time. He had never seen Yeonjun hit anybody, but from the look in his eyes alone he could tell it would’ve left a mark.

Kai started walking too—toward the cafeteria this time, if only to have something to do till next class—when the hushed hallway was immediately accosted with the blaring wail of the smoke alarm. Kai jumped, looking up just in time to see a couple students were running his direction down the hallway. The distant thunder of footsteps meant that more were coming, and fast, which probably almost meant that this wasn’t a drill.

Finally, something exciting. And he didn’t even have to fake a seizure.

“Hey, watch it!”

Kai jumped aside as a student nearly ran him over, hugging his backpack close to his chest. He staggered, but the student barely lost velocity or focus, running faster than the rest of the students down the hallway. All Kai could see was the bounce of curly brown hair before he was gone around the corner.

“ _Aish_ \--Beomgyu, wait for me!”

A familiar voice tickled Kai’s ear and he looked back, seeing none other than the kid that had helped him all that time ago—Soobin, he recalled. His kind eyes were so recognizable.

Soobin seemed to recognize him too because he paused in front of Kai, eyes widened. “Huening Kai!” he gasped. He was very short of breath, which made sense if he had been chasing that other student this whole time.

“Soobin,” Kai said. “How—um, what’s going on?”

“The alarm went off,” Soobin explained, gesturing toward the ceiling as if there was any necessity to specify the screeching noise that filled the whole school. “Come on, I think there’s a fire for real this time. We should really go.”

Maybe this was awful timing, but Kai felt an odd tight sensation in his heart at Soobin’s words. It almost felt too big for his chest. _Finally, someone talking to me like I’m a normal human being._

Thankfully, Soobin took initiative. Wordlessly he grabbed Kai’s wrist, and they both started running.


	8. The Stars Align

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fire at the school inspires a spontaneous trip to the convenience store for some sudden bonding between unlikely people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS it's happened, the chapter I've been waiting for, they're all together! ;-; This one was super fun to write. let me know what you think, and thank you so much for all the support so far~!

Yeonjun and Taehyun emerged out the rear door of the school, and the chill of the fresh air greeted them. Yeonjun could still hear the blaring fire alarm from behind the door and his chest tightened. He stopped, leaning his weight on his knees to catch his breath.

“That was crazy!” Taehyun gasped. “What—how…?”

“Shit,” Yeonjun wheezed, still short of breath as he clenched his eyes shut. He put a hand over his chest.

“I didn’t start that fire,” Taehyun said earnestly. “I didn’t.”

Yeonjun glanced up at him, squinting in the sunlight. He was pacing back and forth, glancing back at the school building. In all honesty he had no idea what he was going to do next. He had a gut feeling that Taehyun was telling the truth.

“Whatever,” he just said, straightening and running his fingers through his hair. The sweat made it stay slicked back. He was never usually this nervous, about anything. “That was fucking crazy. I mean, it just…”

“What are we going to do?” Taehyun asked him. His eyes were as round as dinner plates. “Do you think anyone saw us run from the bathrooms? We were the only ones in there.”

“I don’t know.” Yeonjun hadn’t thought of that. His chest was tightening all over again. “We should get away from the school, either way. That fire was spreading fast.”

“Right…”

The two took off again, walking this time, across the asphalt lot that eventually lead to the main parking area of the school. There were a few cars, probably staff or teachers, and the dumpsters, and then to the left the courtyard. They walked past all of this toward the tree line that separated the school property from the main road.

At this point there was a path beaten into the grass once the asphalt ended. Yeonjun had taken this path many times, as many of the students had. There was a convenience store just a few blocks down the main road and the Boraesekki noraebang next to that, and everyone knew that was where seniors went on Saturday instead of studying.

Right now Yeonjun could hardly think about any of that. His thoughts were too jumbled to think straight, bouncing around in his skull at breakneck speed. He kept thinking, almost like an intrusive thought, that maybe _he…_ but no, that was impossible.

 _You know the truth, parasite,_ came the thoughts again, and Yeonjun grimaced despite himself. _You know that you’re fucked in the head, and now everyone else does too._

No. Now was not the time, not here…

“What?”

Yeonjun’s head snapped up to look at Taehyun as his voice cut the ever-intensifying silence. Taehyun had stopped walking, his face changed from fear to confusion, and for a moment they just stared each other wordlessly. The grip around Yeonjun’s lungs was so tight he felt he might get lightheaded.

“What?” Yeonjun finally asked, but his voice was faint. He blinked hard. “What,”—again, louder—“Uh, what is it?”

“What’s going on?” Taehyun murmured. His eyes darted. Now _he_ sounded scared. “What does ‘parasite’ mean? Back at the bathroom, you…”

Yeonjun felt his whole body turn ice cold, like all his skin had gotten goosebumps at once. His heart was pounding in his ears. This wasn’t possible.

“You hear it too?” he whispered. He couldn’t even tell himself if he was terrified or relieved. Either way he felt like he could’ve laughed, right then and there. The whole situation was so ridiculous.

“Hear what? What does that mean?” Taehyun stared at him, and the look on his face almost scared Yeonjun more than anything else. “Yeonjun… did you start that fire?”

Yeonjun’s mouth was dry. “I—”

“ _Fire!!_ ”

Someone yelling made them both turn their heads at once back toward the school, where a skinny kid was booking it around the corner and toward the tree line. He was obviously very out of breath, but that didn’t seem to slow him down as he came tearing through the grass. Shortly after two other figures followed after.

“Beomgyu?!” Taehyun yelled back. “What are you doing here?”

Beomgyu skidded to a stop in front of them, taking heaving breaths as he dropped his bag to the grass and gestured vaguely back to the school. “I just, just said there’s a, a fire,” he gasped.

“Why aren’t you with everyone else?” Yeonjun asked.

“Why aren’t _you?”_ he responded. He smoothed back his hair from his sweaty forehead and straightened. “Usually when stuff like this happens, they always ask me about it first. I’m not getting in trouble for this.”

“Do you usually start fires?” Taehyun questioned hesitantly. Beomgyu laughed bluntly through his nose.

“No, no,” he said, then he squinted at Taehyun. “Why are you guys back here, though?”

Yeonjun looked behind Beomgyu at the two others who were chasing him, and as they got closer, he recognized one of them to be none other than Huening Kai. A small involuntary scowl twisted the corner of his mouth and he glanced back at the tree line. Why was Kai here?

“We were leaving too,” Yeonjun said, then gave a very bright, artificial smile to Taehyun. “Right?”

“I didn’t know you guys hung out,” Beomgyu noted quietly, and Taehyun actually laughed out loud before Yeonjun glared at him and he stifled it quickly.

The two others finally caught up, and as they got closer Yeonjun got a better view of the other one he didn’t recognize. His face was so familiar, Yeonjun could’ve sworn they had met before…

“Beomgyu, why did you take off like that?” he was saying, his soft eyes narrowed in worry. Even when was upset he looked just like a bunny, Yeonjun found himself thinking. It was then that he remembered where he had seen him—he had been the one to stand up for Huening Kai. Choi Soobin, or something. “ _We’re not friends,”_ he had said when Yeonjun asked about Kai. Yeah right.

Yeonjun looked over to Kai, who was practically hiding behind Soobin. He raised an eyebrow, but Kai just looked away. He realized that no one really knew that they knew each other… maybe Kai wanted it to stay that way.

“I mean, yeah,” Beomgyu was responding, sounding incredulous. “Fire.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t need to leave us behind,” Soobin panted. He seemed to finally notice Yeonjun and Taehyun and briefly looked between them, but Yeonjun noticed his eyes had lingered when their gazes met. He definitely remembered Yeonjun, too.

“What are you guys doing out here?” Soobin asked them, and Yeonjun and Taehyun glanced at each other.

“Probably the same thing you guys are,” Yeonjun suggested, nodding his head toward the school. “We heard the alarm too.”

“Do you think if the school burns down, we’ll get a vacation?” Beomgyu asked absentmindedly, turning to pick up his bag and brushing off the grass from it. Kai smiled at this despite himself.

“I hope not,” Taehyun said quietly. “I can’t get behind now that I’ve finally gotten my grades up…”

“Yeah, right. I barely ever see you at school,” Beomgyu said. “Where do you go, anyway?”

“Guys, I think the school is gathering in the parking lot, we should go,” Kai finally spoke up. “I don’t want to stand outside for an hour waiting for my parents to come pick me up.”

“The convenience store is right around the corner,” Soobin suggested.

Yeonjun shrugged. It would’ve been lying if he said that ramyeon didn’t sound good right then. “Sure, whatever.”

They all started walking again toward the trees, and Yeonjun felt the tension in his lungs relax as he turned his back to the school. Whatever had happened, with the fire _and_ with Taehyun, he would worry about it later.

In a few moments they were past the trees, at the spot in the chainlink fence that was bent outward from a fallen branch. It was just low enough for someone to jump over to the sidewalk beyond, so you ended up right next to the main road.

They took turns throwing their bags over and then hopping over—Beomgyu with some difficulty, his beltloop got stuck—until they were on the other side. Without saying it, somehow they all felt much better having a fence between them and the school. It was like they could all breathe a little easier.

Yeonjun shaded his eyes, looking down the street. “Do you guys usually go to the one on the corner or the one four blocks down?”

“The corner one,” Soobin said confidently. “Everyone knows that one is better.”

“They make their bungeoppang differently,” Beomgyu added.

“Okay, we’ll go there,” Yeonjun said, mostly to himself, and he started walking. The other followed behind him, almost shadowing him like baby ducks following their mother, and Yeonjun’s mouth twitched in a smile.

It was a short walk to the convenience store, and it was a nice day too. Yeonjun never usually noticed the weather, but today it seemed so refreshing he could’ve walked for hours. Who knew a fire would put him in such an unexpectedly good mood.

They made it to the convenience store and went inside—it was surprisingly empty, which made sense because it was school hours. It was a pretty big store too. They had a lot of seating near the tall windows, and even a café attached to the main counter. The familiar smell of cooking food and air conditioning almost felt like home.

Yeonjun stuck his hands in his pockets, walking over to the microwaved foods section to peruse the ramyeon. Taehyun and Kai went too—Soobin and Beomgyu had already gone off to the drink cabinets.

He wandered down the aisle, glancing over at Taehyun who was already grabbing a few things off the shelves. Kai, however, was just looking everything over so intensely it was like he was trying to eat it with his eyes.

“Hey,” Yeonjun said, and Kai nearly jumped. “Aren’t you going to get something?”

“Oh. I don’t have any money,” Kai said quietly. “It’s fine.”

Taehyun spoke up, voice tinged in sympathy. “Oh, Kai, I—”

“I’ll pay for yours,” Yeonjun said evenly, his eyes already back on the shelves of ramyeon. He chose two packs of spicy cheese ramen and threw one to Kai, who caught it with a look of surprise.

“Um—you don’t have to, I’m not really hungry,” Kai stammered. He tried to give it back but Yeonjun just turned away again.

_“I saw you were having a hard time, and it was the beginning of the school year so I, I tried to talk to you and… I don’t know, be nice, but you practically handed me to Min-Seong.”_

A stab of guilt, completely unbidden, sunk into Yeonjun’s chest and he sighed, glancing up at Kai and giving a smug smile. “You know that’s bullshit. It’s not a big deal, it’s like a couple thousand won or something.”

Maybe if Yeonjun had been able to swallow his pride right then, he would’ve told Kai that it was an apology for how he acted earlier. For some reason, he just turned and kept walking. Kai’s footsteps patterned behind him.

They reached the self-checkout and Yeonjun gestured to the drink cabinets with a nod of his head. “Go grab us some soda or something,” he said. “I don’t like Sprite.”

Kai, still looking completely lost, just nodded with an incoherent murmur, and walked quickly off. Yeonjun watched him go, with his hands deep in his pockets and his head down. Then his gazed shifted to the others: Beomgyu and Soobin sitting and laughing by the windows, Taehyun still rummaging around in the aisles…

Yeonjun felt a strange lurch in his heart that he couldn’t explain. There was something strange about everything, something that was impossible to quite place… it wasn’t bad, either. It almost felt like when you just wake up from a dream and you try to remember it before it slips away.

Maybe it was just some weird deja-vu. It wasn’t as if he really knew any of these people…

“I grabbed us cola,” Kai said, yanking Yeonjun from his thoughts. Kai was making eye contact with him for what must’ve been the first time that day.

Yeonjun realized the awkward pause and blinked, quickly picking up the hand scanner.

“Great,” he said flatly. He couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Once they had paid and prepared their ramyeon they rejoined the others, who had congregated at the largest table. Yeonjun couldn’t help the way that Soobin eyed him when they sat down—to be fair, his reputation wasn’t great. He could recall Soobin saying something about “having an excuse never to see him again.”

“You aren’t eating?” Kai asked Soobin, scooting in his chair before excitedly unwrapping his chopsticks. Yeonjun had never seen anyone more ready to absolutely demolish a cup of instant ramen.

Beomgyu smile through a giant bite of bungeoppang. “He said he wasn’t hungry. Psycho.”

“I’m fine,” Soobin murmured distractedly, who had one hand on his soda and another scrolling through his phone.

“What are you reading?” Beomgyu asked, standing up a little on his chair to try to peek at Soobin’s phone from across the table.

Soobin didn’t reply for a moment, then turned his phone around for them to see. “Did you know that constellation started burning ten times as bright this morning?”

“What constellation?” Yeonjun asked. Soobin ignored him.

 _You don’t have to be rude,_ Yeonjun thought, annoyed. _I bought your not-friend lunch._

“I read about that,” Taehyun spoke up, lifting his head from the steam of his ramyeon. “That mystery constellation that just appeared recently, right?”

“Yeah. It’s super cool…” Soobin returned to scrolling through his phone, tongue slightly poking out of his mouth in concentration as he read. “For some reason I really hope it doesn’t end up die out like they’re saying it will.”

“That would be a shame,” Taehyun agreed wistfully. “Why are they saying they’ll die out?”

Yeonjun noticed Soobin’s finger pause scrolling, his eyes flickering back and forth. For a moment he looked disoriented, and Yeonjun was about to ask what was wrong, but then he spoke up again.

“I don’t remember,” Soobin murmured. “But it would be bad, I think.”

“Hey, they’re just stars,” Beomgyu pointed out brightly, taking another bite of his bungeoppang. “Not like there won’t be any left.”

Soobin didn’t seem to hear him.


End file.
